FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT LAND TRUST - PAGE 2

Davie residents have another place to enjoy the great outdoors this summer with the recent opening of Liberty Park. The park, which sits on more than 2 acres at 13500 SW Eighth St., has lush landscaping, a serene arbor area, a field for recreational activities and numerous picnic tables. The project was spearheaded by the Davie Area Land Trust, which received help from town officials, volunteers and others in the community. One of the park's highlights is its butterfly garden. This is a result of efforts led by Mayor Judy Paul, who previously oversaw open space opportunities on the land trust board.

Boynton Beach There is now an empty, sandy lot where Charles and Mary Rahming's dreams are beginning to blossom. The couple already is zeroing in on a corner lot they hope to own later this year in the proposed 21-home Ocean Breeze West development being built by Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County and Boynton Beach Faith Based Community Development Corp. The two nonprofits partnered to build the affordable homes and broke ground on the project Friday.

A group of town residents, frustrated by continuing development and dwindling farmland, has formed a group it hopes will preserve the open spaces that remain. The Davie Area Land Trust is a private, nonprofit group run by volunteers. "Basically, we're a group of concerned individuals who want to help preserve land," said Nick Maniatis, the group's interim chairman. The trust recently had a meeting at Robbins Lodge to raise awareness of the group and attract more volunteers. Maniatis spoke, as did representatives from the Trust for Public Land and the South Florida Water Management District.

A small piece of old Florida is visible from Jim Bloomer's backyard on an oxbow of the South Fork of the St. Lucie River. But also visible, especially when he takes his boat out for sunset cruises, is the 4 feet of muck lining the tributary's bottom -- black, fluffy ooze that hasn't been flushed from the waterway for more than 50 years. There were plans to reconnect the lagoon to nearby marshland to improve water quality, but those plans have come to a halt, along with plans for hiking trails, a picnic pavilion, informational kiosks and public parking on the so-called Delaplane Peninsula.

Delray Beach officials for months have waited for a well-connected Florida think tank to decide whether to offer money and guidance for the ambitious West Atlantic corridor redevelopment plan. Now that the Collins Center for Public Policy is ready to help, Delray Beach Mayor Jeff Perlman said city officials will have to consider whether the offer meets their needs. Perlman said he's frustrated that the nonprofit is moving at such a slow, deliberate pace. But he said he also sees the benefit of having the Collins Center on board because of its redevelopment expertise and knack for raising money.

For 21 years, Sharon Josey Rawlins lived in a house that was sinking into an old landfill. But she's left the shifting house and its cracks behind. Rawlins is one of the satisfied residents living in a Delray Beach Community Land Trust home. "A new beginning," is what Rawlins calls the house on Southwest 12th Avenue she moved into in April.

A land trust. Inclusionary zoning. Impact fees. These are just a few of the recommended answers to the affordable housing crunch floated in a recent economic summit on Palm Beach County`s most pressing challenges. But the county can't wait the six months to a year it will take summit organizers to draft formal recommendations before tackling a crisis that only worsens by the day. That's why it's comforting to see that the County Commission isn't sitting around wringing its hands. On Tuesday, it moved ahead with plans for a community land trust, a proven method of accumulating property for price-controlled homes or rentals.

Board-certified real estate attorney Gary M. Singer writes about the housing market in this space each Friday. To ask him a question about short sales, mortgages, refinancing, homeowner's associations or any other residential real estate topic, click here . Q: I was solicited by a company that said it could reduce my mortgage, and I'd have 20 percent equity in the home when all is said and done. The firm proposed a complex legal plan that begins when I deed my home to a trust and pay a $2,500 fee. Is this legit?

Boynton Beach Commissioner Mike Ferguson is proposing to open the old municipal landfill for developers to build affordable homes. At his request, the city is looking to study whether homes can be built on 40 acres east of the city's Boynton Links Golf Course and possibly using some of the golf course land for the project. "It's obviously an idea whose time has come," Ferguson said. Ferguson hosted an affordable housing workshop last month at City Hall that attracted more than 300 local residents, many of them Haitian immigrants, to hear his plan.

City commissioners approved an agreement Tuesday with the Community Redevelopment Agency to take more than a dozen properties in the Heart of Boynton neighborhood through eminent domain. The vote was 4-1, with Vice Mayor Mack McCray, who represents the area, voting against. Rev. Eddie Evans, of the Jesus House of Worship church on Seacrest Boulevard, offered an emotional plea for his property. "My concern is, if you demand that I go from there, where am I going to go?" Evans said. Under the terms of the agreement, the property owners will be given one more opportunity to negotiate the purchase of the properties with the CRA. The City Commission will still have to approve eminent domain procedures for those that do not agree to sell.